Verizon Wireless announced the DROID RAZR by Motorola on Tuesday, a brand new Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) smartphone that will take advantage of the carrier’s 4G LTE network. The device is equipped with a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, a Super AMOLED Advanced display with a qHD resolution, 32GB of memory including 16GB of on-board storage and a 16GB microSD card, Bluetooth 4.0, an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p video, a front-facing “HD” camera for video chat and support for sharing its 4G LTE connection using Verizon’s Mobile Hotspot feature. The DROID RAZR is also covered with a water-repellant nanocoating that protects the phone from everyday spills. Despite the beefy feature set, the DROID RAZR is the thinnest LTE phone yet and measures just 7.1mm thick. Verizon Wireless confirmed the device will be available in November for $299.99 with a new two-year contract. It can be purchased with a number of accessories, including a new 14-inch laptop dock, a new 10-inch dock, a vehicle dock, an HD dock, a gesture touchpad, a wireless keyboard, a portable power pack and more. Pre-orders for the device begin on October 27th. Read on for the full press release.More →

VIZIO on Monday evening announced that its affordable 8-inch VIZIO Tablet is now available from numerous retailers nationwide. The Gingerbread-powered device is VIZIO’s first foray into the tablet space, and while the slate’s specs aren’t cutting edge, it’s unsubsidized $299 price tag makes it a great option for tablet buyers on a budget. Spec highlights include an 8-inch 1024 x 768-pixel display, Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread, 2GB of storage and support for up to 32GB of removable storage, a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and a front-facing VGA camera for video chats. “VIZIO set out to build an innovative tablet that breaks new ground and addresses the gaps in current offerings in the market,” said VIZIO CTO Matt McRae in a statement. “The VIZIO Tablet offers a superior multimedia experience with its three speaker design, home theater integration with IR, and a perfect size for typing, eBooks, gaming and portability. These innovations and our ground breaking price push the category forward and deliver on our brand promise of Entertainment Freedom for All.” VIZIO’s 8-inch tablet is now available at Sam’s Club, Walmart, Costco, Amazon and other VIZIO retailers across the country for under $300. VIZIO’s full press release follows below.

Last week T-Mobile said that the high demand for the G2x had resulted in “inventory constraints,”and that it was working with LG to get the device back on shelves as quickly as possible. As a result of those constraints, however, the carrier has increased the price of the G2x to $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate —a $50 boost from its debut price of $199. Hopefully T-Mobile drops the cost back down after LG increases its production volume, but the carrier has given no indication that will be the case. More →

In an email to current customers on Friday, Verizon Wireless confirmed that it will begin taking pre-orders for the iPhone for at 3:00AM Eastern Time next Thursday, February 3rd. The email confirms earlier rumors to the same effect. Only existing Verizon Wireless subscribers are eligible for pre-orders — AT&T iPhone users and others looking to open a Verizon account when purchasing a new CDMA iPhone 4 will have to wait until the phone becomes available to the general public a week later on February 10th. Pre-orders will be available on a first-come, first-served basis so interested parties may when to set an early alarm and get their pre-orders processed as quickly as possible.

Why 3:00AM? For one thing, 3 o’clock on the 3rd has a nice ring to it. For another, only very, very excited people will get up at that hour to place their pre-orders. Of course, there are plenty of very excited people out there, but getting the overly-anxious customers out of the way in the middle of the night means crashes and server issues are less likely during the day. Subscribers with individual accounts looking to place pre-orders on the 3rd can visit verizonwireless.com/iphoneorder, and enterprise customers should visit verizonwireless.com/businessportals.

Google’s VP of Engineering, Andy Rubin, utilized the social-network Twitter to drop some knowledge on the world. Mr. Rubin notes that his company’s mobile operating system is now being activated on over 300,000 phones each and every day. That’s over 2.1 million phones every week and over 9 million phones every month. Back in August of this year, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced that Android activations had just passed the 200,000 per day mark — and subsequently set off a little activation brouhaha with rival Apple. For the sake of comparison: the latest numbers from iOS maker Apple (released in September 2010) revealed that there were over 230,000 new iOS activations happening every day.

The verbiage used in both of the companies statements is interesting. Rubin notes 300,000 phones activated each day (indicating the number does not include tablets or other devices running Android, but could include users upgrading), while back in September, Jobs noted there were 230,000 new iOS activations each day (indicating that Apple’s numbers include other iOS devices like iPads and iPod touchs, but not users upgrading).

Either way, Google is now on pace to activate over 10 million Android phones per month. That is an impressive figure any way you slice it. More →

What, you thought McDonald’s and Chuck Norris were the only two entities that could make claims of “billions and billions served”? Today, via a tweet, Google announced that its mobile advertising agency, AdMob, had eclipsed the 300 billion adverts-served mark; the company accomplished this in just under three years. We would like to extend our congratulations to Google on their success. With the proliferation of smartphones, we’re sure it will take AdMob far fewer than three years to serve-up their next 300 billion.

VentureBeat is reporting that Apple’s iOS application store crossed the 300,000 app threshold in the last 24-hours. The publication cites data from analytics firm Mobclix and notes that Apple added over 1,000 applications in the last few days to achieve the goal. Apple certainly has had plenty of momentum over the last few days. Next week, the company is set to announce quarterly earnings and host a media event where they will presumably release details about their next generation desktop operating system, Mac OS X 10.7; Apple’s stock price is currently at an all-time high of $314.74 per share. Like Apple or not, they are more or less printing money in Cupertino these days.

UPDATE: We asked Apple for comment, here is what they provided us: “Our most recent App Store number was in the Verizon and AT&T releases this past week. Over 280,000.” More →

Now this is more like it! The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Samsung product executive, Hankil Yoon, informed them that the Galaxy Tab tablet would retail for somewhere between $200 and $400 in the United States. Yoon did say that the final price of the device would vary depending on carrier subsidies; hopefully the two to four hundred dollar figure is unsubsidized. Sammy is predicting to ship over 10 million Tab’s next year and would like to grab at least ten percent of the tablet market share. The report is good news, as earlier rumors had the Galaxy Tab selling in Germany for upwards of $1,000 for the 32 GB model. Mr. Yoon also said that his company is in talks with “multiple U.S. carriers.” More →

We’ve just been sent in some visual confirmation of what we already knew: Wind Mobile will be adding the BlackBerry Pearl 3G to its pre-paid handset lineup. What we didn’t know, and our source was kind enough to tip us off on, is that the handset will be officially announced today. No details on price were provided, but we’re confident the handset will retail for right around $300. There you have it.